Mars
Mars (Sol IV) is a Class K Planet in the Sol System. The location of humanity's first settlement on another planet, Mars is now home to the Starfleet Research & Development Division‏‎. The first Earth probe to land on Mars was the Soviet Mars 2 probe in 1971, followed in 1976 by the NASA Viking Probes. By the early 20th Century, many organisations, including the European Space Agency and the Roscosmos State Corporation‏‎ had sent unmanned probes to the planet. The first manned exploration of the planet occurred on the 2nd June 2019 with the NASA Ares-Capricorn mission. Mission Captain Charles Brubaker and Pilot John Walker landing on the surface of the red planet in the Capricorn Mk.I Lander, with Second-in-Command Peter Willis remaining in the Ares IV capsule in orbit. The success of the Ares-Capricorn Mission and the introduction of the revolutionary DY-100 design lead to the launching of the S.S Enterprise on the 16th May 2024 in an ambitious effort by the United Nations to found a permanent colony on Mars. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the crew of the Enterprise, after the mission was launched, Khan Noonien Singh‏‎ began his conquest of Asia, beginning the Eugenics Wars. After losing contact with Earth due to the conflict, the Enterprise made planetfall on the 18th August 2028, founding the Enterprise Colony. No contact was made between Earth and her new Martian colony until 2040. By this time, the United Nations had been disbanded, and the people of the Enterprise Colony refused to answer to a single sovereign government, being the representatives of all humanity. This led to the severing of contact between Earth and Mars, and with the people of Apollonius‏‎ on Luna taking a similar stance, these two colonies declared nominal independence. The next contact with the Luna and Martian colonies came in 2114. In the interim, The Collapse and the Third World War had ravaged Earth, and mankind's two offworld colonies were by this time little more than distant memory. The pioneering warp starship, S.S Valiant was sent on her maiden voyage to rediscover these colonies. The occasion was a tragic one. The crew of the Valiant discovered that at some point roughly thirty years beforehand (some forty years after their declaration of independence), the populations of both colonies had been wiped out by a virulent plague. The colonies themselves had become tombs for their unfortunate citizens. The following year, modified DY-100 Class ships founded new colonies on both bodies, with the new Martian colony being named Quenisset. A few years later, the progress made at this new colony was marred by the gruesome murders of several colonists. The perpetrator was not discovered until 2267 (See Redjac Entity) Beginning in the 2120s, Mars was partially terraformed, although it remained a Class K Planet. By 2140, humans could walk on the surface with only minimal protection and a respirator. The thin atmosphere and low gravity of the world did not lend it to large scale colonisation, but they were excellent conditions for scientific experimentation. In 2141 United Earth established several research stations across the surface of Mars, the names of which have become famous. In 2144, the first successful Matter-Antimatter (M/AM) Reactor, known as Colossus, was brought online at the Argyre Planitia test site. A purely experimental reactor, Colossus was far too large to be used in a starship, but the principle of a M/AM Reactor had been proven. During the Earth-Romulan War, the UESN founded a new starship research laboratory at Utopia Planitia. Becoming the centre of starship research after the founding of the Federation in 2161, Utopia Planitia was expanded in 2180 to feature orbital shipyards (Utopia Planitia Prime) in geosynchronous above it, eventually overtaking other Federation shipyards in the production of large starships for Starfleet. These were further expanded in the 2250s, including a new orbital laboratory for cutting-edge research. Notable Cities & Points of Interest Enterprise Colony (Lost Circa 2085) Quenisset Argyre Planitia Utopia Planitia Hellas Planitia‏‎ Cydonia Marsport Notable Stations in Orbit Utopia Planitia Prime‏‎ Utopia Planitia Minor Utopia Planitia Experimental Research Laboratory Moons Phobos Deimos Category:Planets Category:Class K Planets Category:Federation Worlds